Retirement: a battle of wills

Teachers, transport workers and other civil servants are all striking this Tuesday over plans that could see them gainfully employed until they are 62, two years longer than the current laws allow. It's all part of a plan to reign in the government pension deficit. While some recognize the need for reform, there are very different views on how to deal with the debt.

FOCUS

23/05/2012 - CANADA

Students in Quebec march against tuition fee hike

Student protests in the Canadian province Quebec are into their fourth month. Hundreds were arrested at marches to mark 100 days since the protests began. Students are demonstrating against an 80 percent rise in tuition fees in Quebec, the Canadian province that has until now enjoyed the country's lowest rates for higher education.

23/05/2012 - EGYPT

Egyptians head to the polls

Egyptians go to the polls in the country's first truly contested presidential election on Wednesday. With an array of candidates to choose from, voters will decide who's the best man to lead them through the last phase of the country's troubled democratic transition that began with Egypt's revolution in January last year. Cairo correspondents Kathryn Stapley and Sonia Dridi talked to some of the activists whose protests in Tahrir Square changed the course of Egypt's history.

22/05/2012 - EGYPT

A troubling time for Egypt's Coptic Christians

Egyptians go to the polls tomorrow to vote for a new president for the first time since Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the revolution last year. Two of the front-runners in the presidential race with a realistic chance of winning are devout Islamists, which is troubling for Egypt's Coptic Christians. They are Egypt's largest religious minority and many of them don't think any of the candidates are capable of protecting them from the religious violence that has been steadily increasing.

22/05/2012 - WEST BANK

'The Battle of the Empty Stomachs'

Palestinians nicknamed it "the battle of the empty stomachs". For weeks, 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails refused food and drink in what became the longest ever mass hunger strike. Israel finally capitulated and a deal was reached, allowing those in isolation back onto the general wards, and visas for those family members wishing to visit from Gaza. In exchange, prisoners agreed not to carry out "security activities" such as recruiting for terrorist missions.

21/05/2012 - SERBIA

Serbia's new president - nationalist or not?

Serbia has elected a new president - and it's not the one that most people were expecting. Tomislav Nikolic has unseated Boris Tadic, the man in power since 2004. Observers are worried about the new head of state, who used to be part of the ultra-nationalist Radical Party. He once said he would prefer to be allied with Russia than join the EU, but he has since toned down the rhetoric, saying he will take Serbia to Europe after all.

Comments (1)

a very important detail

by Anonyme - 22/10/2010 - 05:50

Olivier FERRAND explains the situation with retirement very well. Most people in the United States, where I live, do not understand that there are two requirements for retirement in France. First, there is the age. Then there is the requirement that you work 40 years. That is not understood and has not been adequately communicated. The number of years, measured in three-month quarters, is significantly less in the United States to collect Social Security even though the age is higher. Mr. Ferrand makes a very good point.

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- France - French politics - Nicolas Sarkozy - pensioners - Reform - Retirement - strike

Retirement: a battle of wills

Students in Quebec march against tuition fee hike

Egyptians head to the polls

A troubling time for Egypt's Coptic Christians

'The Battle of the Empty Stomachs'

Serbia's new president - nationalist or not?

Comments (1)

a very important detail

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